Warren Gatland’s tourists threw away a 31-17 lead after the otherwise excellent Iain Henderson was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Jordie Barrett.
It allowed the home side to come back from the dead and level the game as tries from Wes Goosen and Vaea Fifita added to earlier efforts from Callum Gibbins and Ngani Laumape.
It meant that despite two Tommy Seymour scores and one from Wales star George North, the Lions were outscored by four tries to three. Fly-half Dan Biggar ended the game with 16 points in response to 11 from Barrett, but the Wales man’s drop goal effort with the last kick of the game fell short as the two teams were forced to share the spoils.
Led by Ireland hooker Rory Best, the Lions looked pumped up from the start in the New Zealand capital.
An early dust up between both packs showed the enthusiasm on show, but with the home side on the wrong end of Romain Poite’s whistle, Biggar put the tourists into an early 3-0 lead.
The first points of the game were then quickly followed by another length-of-the-field try from the Lions.
Ironically, it came from the Hurricanes’ first period of possession, a loose Otere Black pass finding Greig Laidlaw who intercepted and made it 30 metres before being tackled.
Refusing to panic, the scrum-half popped the ball up to supporting Scottish team-mate Seymour who was left with an easy run to the line. Biggar converted and added a penalty to make it 13-0.
All was not rosy in the Lions’ garden though, a shoulder injury to Robbie Henshaw forcing Gatland to bring on Leigh Halfpenny who himself had been a late addition on to the bench in place of Jared Payne.
It meant Halfpenny slotted in at full-back, the impressive Jack Nowell moved to the wing and North stepped into Henshaw’s inside centre jersey.
The back line switch was hardly ideal, and it coincided with the home side hitting back as Gibbins was driven over the line following a powerful forward surge. Barrett converted.
Biggar hit back straight away with his third penalty of the day, and the Wales fly-half then created North’s score.
His up and under fell loose and lovely hands from Henderson saw the ball find its way to North who sprinted clear. Biggar kicked the extras again as the Lions went into the break 23-7 up after rebuffing late home pressure with a much-needed turnover.
Poor disipline had hindered the Hurricanes before the break, meaning their dangerous back line had been given little chance to get into the game. That all changed right at the start of the second half.
An electric break from Julian Savea saw him get on the end of an inside ball, the All Blacks wing spreading the ball to his international colleague Laumape. The giant centre finished off a flowing team move expertly, flattening the covering Biggar on his way over. Barrett converted.
The huge knock suffered by Biggar saw him temporarily forced off, Finn Russell coming on for his first appearance as a Lion. Biggar soon returned to the field, but the Hurricanes were on top, Barrett awry with one penalty effort but then kicking another to leave just six points between the teams.
The see-saw nature of an entertaining game continued with the Hurricanes then going down to 14 men.
Scrum-half Tahuriorangi Te Toiroa was the man to see yellow as he paid the price for his high tackle on Nowell following repeated home infringements.
Biggar kicked the resulting penalty and with a numerical advantage, the Lions soon moved further clear. After the monstrous Henderson looked like he’d been driven over, the ball was spread back left and deft hands from Nowell and Halfpenny allowed Seymour to cross for his second of the day.
The extras went wide, but an entertaining match still had plenty to give. Henderson was lucky to escape with just a yellow for upending Barrett at a ruck and it allowed the Hurricanes to come from nowhere to level the game.
First, Barrett’s floating pass allowed replacement Goosen to score and then just three minutes later, All Blacks forward Fifita dived between the posts through a mass of bodies, the try given via the TMO.
Barrett converted both to make it 31-31 with 10 minutes to go.
Remarkably, the game was now in the balance and in a thrilling final few minutes, both teams pushed for victory.
In the end, neither team could come up with a winning score as Biggar’s late drop goal effort from range failed to carry the required distance.
